07 January 2009

As I've just written on Open Enterprise, the rise of the ultraportable/netbook was one of free software's biggest successes - and surprises - last year. It was particularly important for getting GNU/Linux into the hands of punters, many of whom were quite happy with it, contrary to the conventional wisdom.

Laptops will soon go on sale in Marks & Spencer and Next for less than £100, in the latest sign that the consumer electronics industry is tackling the recession by selling ever-cheaper products.

Elonex, a small British computer maker, will start selling its ‘net books’ in the two fashion chains from February, in an attempt to win over a new generation of female shoppers to cheap computers.

It promises its machines, which can fit inside a handbag, offer users all that laptop can – internet surfing, emailing, word processing, storing photographs – but on smaller scale. The screens are just 7 inches wide, the keyboard is slightly smaller than a normal laptop keyboard and the memory is limited.

At that price, they must be GNU/Linux. Free software-based systems as an impulse buy in M&S? 2009 is already looking good....

About Me

I have been a technology journalist and consultant for 30 years, covering
the Internet since March 1994, and the free software world since 1995.

One early feature I wrote was for Wired in 1997:
The Greatest OS that (N)ever Was.
My most recent books are Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution, and Digital Code of Life: How Bioinformatics is Revolutionizing Science, Medicine and Business.